Del Piero questioned in doping probe

January 27, 1999
CNN/SI

TURIN, Italy - Alessandro Del Piero, the ailing star forward of league champion Juventus of Turin, was questioned Wednesday for the second time by the prosecutor investigating the use of performance-enhancing substances in Italian soccer.

Del Piero, who's nursing a knee injury which is likely to sideline him through the end of the current Serie A season, was tightlipped as he left the office of Turin prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello following a two-hour meeting.

"I'm only worried about my injury," Del Piero told reporters.

It was the second time in five months Del Piero was questioned by Guariniello.

Guariniello and other Italian prosecutors have been investigating uncontrolled use of pharmaceuticals in the Italian Serie A and other divisions since last August. Nobody has been charged in the case so far.

Guariniello's investigation was sparked by claims of AS Roma's Czech coach Zdenek Zeman that there was little control in the way Italian professional players were using pharmaceuticals.

Del Piero and other present and past players of Turin powerhouse Juventus had been named by Zeman among those who had evidenced a sudden muscular growth.

Those questioned by the Turin prosecutor so far included Inter's Brazilian star Ronaldo, French World Champions Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps, both of Juventus, and soccer administrator and former star player Michel Platini.

Platini, a former Juventus player and head of the 1998 World Cup organizing committee, said after meeting Guariniello on Monday that "soccer can not clean itself by its own ... the state must be the one to punish those who use drugs."
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